CNN
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Israeli authorities said Sunday that three Israeli civilians were killed in a shooting at the Allenby checkpoint on the border between the occupied West Bank and Jordan.
The Israel Airports Authority, which runs the Allenby checkpoint on the border with Jordan, told CNN that the three people who died had been working at the checkpoint.
“The terrorist shot and killed three employees at Allenby Terminal at close range,” checkpoint manager Alex Chen said. The terrorist was then shot dead by security personnel.
The Allenby checkpoint is primarily for Palestinians and foreigners and is not available to Israelis.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that “terrorists approached the Allenby Bridge area from Jordan in a truck, disembarked and opened fire on Israeli security forces operating on the bridge.”
“Three Israeli civilians were announced dead as a result of the attack,” the IDF said in a statement, adding that the attacker was shot dead. It also released a photo of the handgun reportedly used in the attack.
Israeli police said “several casualties were reported at the scene” and added that the gunman had been “neutralised”.
Jordanian authorities said preliminary investigations had identified the suspect as Maher Diab Hussein Al-Jazi, a Jordanian national from Al-Hussainiya in Ma’an governorate, south of the capital, Amman.
The Jordanian Interior Ministry said Al-Jajji acted alone and crossed the border crossing from Jordan to the West Bank in a vehicle transporting goods. It said authorities were currently coordinating the return of Al-Jajji’s body to Jordan and his burial.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the shooting and said the three civilians had been killed by “despicable terrorists.”
In opening remarks at a weekly government meeting, Prime Minister Netanyahu said Israel was “surrounded by murderous ideologies led by Iran’s axis of evil.”
All three land crossings connecting Israel and Jordan have been closed since the attack, according to the Israel Airports Authority. It said the crossings would reopen to passengers only on Monday, with the Yitzhak Rabin crossing (near Eilat) and the Jordan River crossing (near Beit She’an) reopening at 8 a.m. local time, and the Allenby crossing at 10 a.m. local time.
Jordanian authorities said late on Sunday that all Jordanian drivers questioned after the incident had been released and that more than 100 trucks had returned to Jordan.
Sunday’s incident came nearly two weeks after Israeli forces launched one of their largest operations in the West Bank in years, carrying out raids, bulldozing highways and bombing several parts of the occupied territory.
Clashes in the West Bank have become more frequent since Israel launched war in the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7 in response to Hamas attacks in southern Israel.
Israeli forces and settlers have killed around 700 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since October, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah, but the ministry’s figures do not distinguish between militants and civilians.
Jordan became the second Arab country to sign a peace agreement with Israel in 1994. It has been a strong critic of Israel’s military operations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Jordan is a close ally of the United States and receives significant military aid from the country.
